Battle of the 100 wrecks
"It is time we make our move" -Knight-Admiral Torba'Namta, commander of the loyal Yadrani fleet- The Battle of the 100 wrecks was one of the largest void battles taking place during the bloody Yadran Civil war and is considered by historians as the last true battle between the fleets of the Kingdom of Yadra and the Enlightened Kingdom of Ra'Tagrass. Despite being, in the end, an inconclusive affair where both sides suffered heavy losses, the battle is still considered a minor victory by the Karthemas of the Kingdom of Yadra as, thanks to this battle, they could send a few armies to the rebel capital to end the war in a single blow, the operation later known as the Siege of the Scarlet Palace. After the end of the battle, both the fleets of the Enlightened Kingdom and the Kingom of Yadra's Hiri'Gasska fleet were to weak to continue important operations. Indeed, the battle did not only see the destruction of a large number of ships, but also many veteran crews neither of the two nations could easily replace with their ever-thinning resources. This, aside from the rebellion of the Second Quadrumvirate years later, would finally bring the unofficial ceasefire between both nations in 2303. The battle also saw the fight between two of the best admirals of the Civil war. Katla, admiral for the Enlightened Kingdom, had seen little to no defeat during the days previous to this battle, while Knight-Admiral Torba'Namta had managed to skillfully slow down enemy fleets until enough ships could be rallied to make a stand against the incoming attackers. Background A wounded fleet Suffering from a series of shameful defeats and constant skirmishing against ship numbers far superior to their own, the fleet of the Kingdom of Yadra was on its last legs during the last years of the 2290's. Crews were increasingly demoralized, with some corvettes going as far as to change sides despite the promise of a swift death to anyone who deserted. Despite this, all was not lost for the Kingdom. Thanks to some deals with the Ahadi Conglomerate, the Hiri'Gasska fleet got the parts and machinery necessary to rebuilt its damaged fleet. A veteran of many engagements against the foe, and one of the few good admirals the Empress had left, Torba'Namta was chosen as the leader of the Yadrani fleet. Already knowing who his rival was going to be for the incoming fight, Torba'Namta brought not only the Kingdom's corvettes, but also a large number of civilian ships, some of them so old they had to be tied and dragged across the void by squadrons of corvettes. A swift victory The Katla who fought the battle of the 100 wrecks was said not to be the same who had earned victory after victory for the Enlightened Kingdom. As the war raged on, the High Admiral had seen how her fellow generals of the Second Quadrumvirate began to secretly create small empires of their own and increasingly disobey any orders coming from Ra'Tagrass. Fearing that another rebellion was about to come, Katla rallied all the ships she could for a brutal strike on the Kingdom of Yadra, one which would not only break its power, but also show the other memebers of the Quadrumvirate their feature if they chose to keep disobeying orders from the capital. Such was Katla's confidence in a swift victory, she took nearly every single ship in the Enlighted Kingdom's armada, a move which left many stations and even Ra'Tagrass itself defenceless. Even so, with a larger fleet and a far superior number of capital ships, Katla was certain that, once she was done, there would be no Yadrani fleet to counter-attack. Battle Reaching the graveyard As the fleet of the Enlightened Kingdom arrived to the frontier, they were faced by a strange sight. The Yadrani loyal fleet was waiting for them, their formation that of a half moon with more ships on the flanks that at the center. Floating amongst the ships like three walls howver were formations of abandoned ships and wrecks, some which clearly had not been piloted even during the times of the Fall of Yadra. While other admirals might have thought twice before attacking, Katla no longer had the time or patience to try and see the reasoning behind her foe's strange tactics. Seeing how the enemy ships could take cover behind the wrecks if she used her inaccurate, long-range weaponry, Katla chose instead to pierce right through the heart of the enemy formation, break it into two and deal with each side accordingly. The first wave of corvettes immediately began to exchange fire with their Kingdom counterparts. As both sides deployed strong shields and armor, for nearly 30 minutes none of the two fleets managed to do anything but waste ammunition as those ships about to lose their shields fell back and were quickly replaced. The True fight begins Seeing that they were just wasting time, Katla ordered the rest of her fleet to advance, her heavier ships prepared to obliterate the foe at close range. Never one to refuse a good fight, Katla's ship (still known as the Mezak), was one of the first vessels to pierce through retreating loyalist lines, its heavy weapons obliterating shields in a matter of minutes and even scoring a few good hits which turned corvettes into more wrecks to the growing graveyard. At the border of the "walls", finally Torba'Namta gave the order. Just as Katla had ambushed the loyalist fleet during the Ambush at the Dark Fangs, now it was the Kingdom of Yadra who surprised the rebels. Not only did merchant ships full of warriors attack unready enemy vessels. Old wrecks equiped by improvised engines were also used as improvised shells, some of which even managed to land, obliterating corvettes in the blink of an eye. Chaos and mayhem By the time Katla realized what was going on, her foe had already turned around and attacked with renewed fury. While it is true that the High Admiral was the best in the Enlightened Kingdom, the truth was Katla had never truly fought a head-to-head battle in the void. Despite improving in certain ways, she was still no Satayesh Ibrahim, her counter maneuvers clumbsy and far to slow to prevent the loss of many of her ships. Soon, the void battle had nearly become a land war, most ships being far to close to one-another to properly fire their guns without the risk of damageing an ally. The great battlecruisers, kings of so many past engagements, were now like whales on the beach, constantly attacked by boarding parties. The Mezak, more than any other, suffered constant attacks and only managed to hold thanks to the efforts of Katla. With their admiral distracted with wave after wave of foes, the rest of the rebel fleet was forced to fend off their enemies alone. As the battle raged on, some groups even managed to use the wrecks to recover and prepare counter-attacks which brought great damage to the loyalist fleet. The Mezak's last minutes Due to the impacts of several others wrecks (some of which crashed even by accident), the rebel capital ship could not last for much longer. More than half its crew was already gone with only a few decks still in control of the crew of the Mezak. As reports arrived of retreating vessels, Katla finally understood this was a battle she could no longer win. Abandoning ships with the few knights she had left, the High Admiral left to one of the retreating battlecruisers, just minutes before to much damage to its superstructure broke the Mezak in two. All around, friend and foe alike also fell back, the chaos of the battle making it so nobody truly knew who was ahead or the casualties they had left behind. Still, unwilling to carry on with a crippled fleet, Katla ordered the retreat, leaving the remains of the loyalist fleet alone at the cementary of ships. Aftermath Later historians would see the battle of the 100 wrecks as a strategic victory for the Kingdom of Yadra, as it allowed their armies to perform a surprise attack of the world of Ra'Tagrass. Even so, the victory was a costly one to say the absolute least, one which, even by the end of the civil war, neither side would recover from. Category:Battles Category:Battles involving the Kingdom of Yadra Category:Kingdom of Yadra